Late on Friday afternoon, a crowd of arborists descended onto Woodland Park in Lexington, Kentucky. They carried big canvas bags filled with 200-foot hanks of rope and shouldered technical packs containing a variety of other tree climbing tools and gadgets. Some came from far corners of the country like southern Vermont, or from closer neighboring states like Tennessee and Ohio, and also out the great north of Michigan. Some traveled from as far as Sweden and the south of France.

After all, the Kentucky Tree Climbing Competition is a world class event.

Volunteer judges sat at picnic tables in the shade of the park’s canopy. They were finicking with carabiners, prussic chords, ascenders, harnesses and multiscender devices like Akimbos and Vertecs. They ran the long hanks of rope through clenched fingers, looking and feeling for anomalies in diameter, or tufts of severed cover strands. They casted long gazes with pursed lips over gear that didn’t function quite right. They asked for second opinions. They lubricated carabiner gates to try and bring them up to snuff. If not, the gear failed inspection, marked on the far left column of the official gear check form as “quarantined” in dark black pen. No expense was spared on safety.

John Ashment, of Indiana, was stationed at a small oak tree inspecting the configuration of each climber’s work positioning system they would employ in the work climb event the following day. A protective cape hung over his neck from the back of his helmet. He had a chain wallet, and obviously, like every other person gathered there in the park, a seriously unique sense of style.

The belayed speed climb event followed gear inspection. Tree climbing competition Chair Cory Petry, of Limbwalker Tree Service in Louisville, Kentucky, described getting the belayed speed climb out of the way on the first night as “pulling the band aid off.”

John Melloncamp said it another way, “it hurts so good.”

In midst of all this, old friends embraced, continuing where they last left off, and new friends broke the ice, beginning conversations that may continue for the rest of their careers in this industry. This is not uncommon. In fact, it is one of the driving forces behind competitors and volunteers attending tree climbing competitions.

Joseph Smith, of the ISA Michigan Chapter, traveled all the way from Grand Rapids and worked Friday night as the head judge of the belayed speed climb event. As Smith introduced climbers into the taped off ring, his northern accent was unmistakable, rising just above the local bluegrass drawl.

The Michigan Chapter had a roster of 4 climbers in Kentucky this year, 3 of which placed in the top 5 of the preliminary events.

Ohio was well represented as well.

Jacob Nau, of Russel Tree Experts, finished 2nd overall in the preliminary events.

The first tree climbing competition Nau ever competed in was at the Kentucky Arborist Association’s TCC in 2017.

“I remember going back home and telling my wife, this is the most supportive sport competition I have ever seen,” Nau said.

At that time Nau had only been climbing trees professionally for a year or two.

“Any chapter you go to, whether it’s your first time or your hundredth time, you’re gonna have people there to support you,” Nau said. “Even if you don’t know them. You’ll meet somebody, you’ll make some kind of connection and all of sudden they’re yelling to you about rope angles and slack and all these other things, trying to help you perform better.”

“That’s how these friendships and bonds are made,” Nau said.

Nau was barely nudged out of qualifying for the out-of-chapter spot in the masters challenge event by Abdon Leon-Espinosa of Michigan.

Jose Sanchez, also from the Ohio Chapter, finished seventh overall in the preliminary standings.

“For me it’s been humbling,” Sanchez said. “You get to see people at the top of what it is to be a tree climber, and that skill is a motivator, especially if you’re trying to level up, because most of us are stuck in our own bubbles. Coming out here, you get to see what top climbing really is.”

Brothers Aaron and Ian Martin, of Kentucky, have been lucky enough to share they’re tree climbing journey together.

Ian Martin is Aaron’s big brother, 4 years his senior, and he mentored Aaron in the trade. Aaron said he looked up to Ian. They currently both work for Bartlett Tree Experts in Lexington. Aaron nudged past Ian by just 5 places in the preliminary events, finishing in 9th place overall.

“Now I look down on him,” Aaron said, standing next to Ian.

Of the in-state climbers, Aaron Martin was 2nd only to Alex Hardison, earning them both a spot in the master’s challenge event this year, along with reigning chapter champion Scott Preston, who placed 10th overall in prelims.

Stephan Zimmerman, also of Limbwalker Tree Service in Louisville, volunteers his expertise each year by running the kids climb event. 

Zimmerman’s gaze is set on the future of the industry.

“What I want is to get the kids to this point when they’re adults,” Zimmerman said. “They can see that people are making money climbing trees, and I also get to see all my old friends.”

Zimmerman said he has seen well over twenty years of evolution at tree climbing competition. He watched Mark Chisholm of the New Jersey Chapter break the world record in the footlock event back in the early 2000’s. In recent years, the foot lock event has been replaced with the ascent event in International Society of Arboriculture tree climbing competitions.

“If you stick with it, you’re going to see things you wouldn’t believe you were going to see two decades ago,” Zimmerman said.

Johnny Provenzale, a twenty year veteran of the trade from Ohio, experienced a first at this year’s event. Even though he timed out on the work climb, he scored his first ever limb toss from the end of a long scaffold limb in the sprawling crown of a red oak.

‘Johnny Pro’ admitted that it’s sometimes small accomplishments like this that can often define success at the end of the day.  

Other event trees included species like Ash and walnut (ascent, throw line), hackberry (aerial rescue) and maple (belayed speed climb).

Cory Rebello drove his truck bed camper from southern Vermont, stopping along the way at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania before arriving in Lexington. Rebello said every year he takes a week off from work at Davey Tree Expert company to make his pilgrimage from the New England to Kentucky.

He said it’s the good people that bring him here to the end of the road.

Alex Rivera, of Kentucky, is also drawn to the community, he said. 

The last time Rivera competed, his 10-month-old daughter Juni (short for Juniper), wasn’t born yet. On Saturday though, she was there with mom (Sarah) to cheer Rivera on to an 11th place finish.

Emily Golden, from the Southern Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, was a first-time competitor at this year’s event.

“I do feel like I’m settling in now,” Golden said before heading to the throw line event. “I was super nervous at the beginning.”

Golden took first place in each preliminary event of the women’s division this year.

Tiler Wright, of the Kentucky, was also a first-time competitor. Wright climbed boldly all day, and boasted first in the belayed speed climb event, which earned him 10 points.

Wright donned a 10-gallon hat and blue jeans on the awards podium Saturday night.

The master’s challenge was set up in a large sycamore tree at the south end of the park, isolated from where the preliminary events were held.

Shortly after volunteers broke prelims down, spectators gathered in a large semi-circle on the concrete path just outside the dripline of the sycamore. It was a diverse mix of competitors, family, friends, pets and total strangers, the latter drawn in perhaps by the unique energy and skill of these nomadic tree people, lured from a distance by the faint jingling of bells in the sky.

Out-of-state master’s challenge qualifier Abdon Leon-Espinosa took on the mature, riparian-site-loving tree first. Known to some by his Instagram handle The.Spanish.Squirrel, he seemed to move effortlessly through the crown: gliding and hopping from limb to limb, aboral in every way. Leon-Espinosa, a consumate showman, illustrated the height of the arborist’s skill set. As he completed each station, he joked with the crowd, cajoling back and forth with his colleagues and friends. He gave the people what they wanted.

In lieu of scoring 205 points, The Spanish Squirrel was showing us how arborists can make the world a better place.

Scott Preston, of Kentucky, went on to win the masters challenge for the second year in a row with a score of 223.67.